Loire River (redirected from Loira)

Loire River

River, southeastern France. The longest river in France, it flows north and west for 634 mi (1,020 km) to the Bay of Biscay, which it enters through a wide estuary below Saint-Nazaire. Embankments were built as early as the 12th century, and in subsequent centuries it was used extensively for the transport of goods. A canal system built in the 17th and 18th centuries is inadequate for modern vessels.